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Vertical Jump Program
Warming Up: It is important to warm-up your muscles first before stretching or performing any strenuous physical activity. I recommend jumping rope for a couple of minutes to warm-up and increase the blood flow to your muscles.
Phases: The program is broken up into three different phases consisting of four weeks each. This is because as you continue through the program your muscles will adapt to the intensity of the workout, therefore we need to keep increasing the workload in order to continue increasing your vertical jump.
Frequency: Perform the routine every second day to give your body a days rest in-between workouts. This means that on week one you’ll be training 4 times a week, week two you’ll be training 3 times per week, and on week three you’ll be training 4 times per week. That ends up being 11 workouts per phase for a total of 33 workouts in the program. Also, during this program you will be taking one week off between each phase to let your body completely recover. You need to give your muscles time to fully repair in order to grow stronger and more explosive. Rest Intervals: One minute rest in-between all sets. If you can, try to keep a stopwatch on your phone with you when you’re doing these workouts.**Exercises**: If you have any trouble understanding my descriptions of the exercises, YouTube them to watch a video of the exercise being performed.
Jumping Rope – A jump rope is the only piece of equipment involved in the program. If you don’t have one a piece of rope will do just fine. If you don’t have a piece of rope either jumping up and down on the spot without much bending in the knees will achieve a similar result. Jumping rope involves holding a rope with both hands and swinging it around your body continuously. 4-Corners – Involves you imagining 4 dots in a square shape about 15 – 20 inches apart. To complete 4-corners you hop around the square in a clockwise direction landing on each dot for the required number of repetitions. 4 jumps and completing the square equals one repetition.
Single-Leg 4-Corners – Exactly the same as 4-Corners except performed on one leg.
Slow-Motion Squats – Involves standing with your feet shoulder width apart. From this position slowly lower down until you are in a deep squat making sure your heels are flat on the ground. Hold for 2 seconds before slowly rising back to the starting position. The descent and rise should each take 4 seconds to complete. Throughout the entire exercise make sure to keep your head up and your back straight.
Tuck Jumps – Tuck jumps involve descending into a comfortable squat and then jumping as high as possible and bringing your knees to your chest.
High-Reach Jumps – Are similar to tuck jumps, but instead of brining your knees to your chest, you just reach as high as you can. This is done best under a basketball ring or near a wall so that you can tell how much lower your reach becomes as you fatigue. Try to reach the same height through all repetitions. if you don’t have anything to measure against, that’s fine. Just jump as high as you can each repetition.
Lateral Jumps – Lateral jumps are performed best with over a line or a stick. They involve standing parallel to the line on one side and then quickly jumping sideways back-and-forth over the line. Over and back equals one repetition.
Single-Leg Lateral Jumps – Exactly the same as lateral jumps except performed on one leg.
Alternating Lunge Jumps – From a normal standing position, take one step forward with your right foot and one step backwards with your left foot. This is your starting position. From this position, jump as high as you can in the air and switch leg positions.
Straight Leg Calf Jumps – Without bending your knees, jump up and down in the same spot. You won’t get very high off the ground and it will be the ankle doing all the movement which will work the calf muscle. Toe Raises – Stand regularly, then raise up onto the tips of your toes. Lower back down. Don’t rock up and down, do it slowly (not too slowly) but steadily. This is improved by using stairs if you have access to them. Alright, enough talk. Here’s the program you’ve all been waiting for.
Phase 1 – Weeks 1 – 31. Jumping Rope – 2 minutes.
2. Stretching
3. Jumping Rope – 2 minutes.
4. Slow Motion Squats – 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
5. Lateral Jumps – 3 sets of 20 repetitions.
6. Alternating Jump Lunges – 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
7. Tuck Jumps – 3 sets of 8 repetitions.
8. Toe Raises – 3 sets of 20 repetitions.
Week 4 – Rest.
Phase 2 – Weeks 5 – 7
1. Jumping Rope – 2 minutes.
2. Stretching
3. Jumping Rope – 3 minutes.
4. Slow Motion Squats – 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
5. 4-Corners – 3 sets of 12 repetitions.
6. Single-Leg Lateral Jumps – 3 sets of 15 repetitions.
7. Alternating Jump Lunges – 3 sets of 15 repetitions.
8. High Reach Jumps – 3 sets of 8 repetitions.
9. Straight-Leg Calf Jumps – 3 sets of 30 repetitions.
Week 8 – Rest.
Phase 3 – Weeks 9 – 11
1. Jumping Rope – 2 minutes.
2. Stretching
3. Jumping Rope – 4 minutes.
4. Slow Motions Squats – 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
5. Single-Leg 4-Corners – 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
6. Single-Leg Lateral Jumps – 3 sets of 20 repetitions.
7. Alternating Jump Lunges – 3 sets of 20 repetitions.
8. Tuck Jumps – 3 sets of 8 repetitions.
9. Straight-Leg Calf Jumps – 3 sets of 40 repetitions.
Week 12 – Rest.
**If you want to increase your vertical even more, I recommend using free weights for some of the exercises**
You will only increase your vertical if you complete the program. Push yourselves, because it will only help you out in the long run. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
